This is the 4th of 10 Commandments that God inscribed with His finger, on two tablets of stone that God then handed to Moses on Mt Sinai, to give to His chosen people of Israel…Exodus 31:18… Some churches believe that their members are sinning in God’s eyes, if they miss church on Sundays… But there is nowhere in the New Testament that tells the Christian this one commandment of having to go to church on Sunday, is still a command that must be followed… This is a rule that was made by men at the highest level of church hierarchy later on in church history, after scripture clearly tells us the Bible should be closed to any additions or subtractions, in…Revelations 22:18-19… http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=rev22:18-19&version=KJV

By the same token, there are people that wake up on Sunday morning and decide to roll over and go back to sleep… I decided to do so some internet searches to get an idea of what percent of people in the USA claim to be Christians; and what percentage of people actually go to church on Sunday… I was amazed by the statistics I have found… While different surveys report differing percentages in both of these surveys…a good round figure for the percentage of people claiming to be Christians is around 80%… And for years, many different polls had a consistent figure of about 40% of people of all religions attending church every week… It seems many of these people were stretching the truth; because a more accurate figure in recent polls indicates only about 20% that are actually attending church on a regular basis…

Another sad reality shows that the number of people attending church has been on a steady decline in recent years… Here are just 2 of the many sites I went through to give you the rough estimates I have just reported…

I have had people tell me they don’t go to church because then don’t like being nagged about church contributions… I have heard some say they don’t want to be a hypocrite… I have heard other people say church isn’t necessary to be a good Christian… I had a youth group graduate from about 8 years ago, ask me a question about a young Christian couple he knew that were living together for the past 3 years without being married… They went to church every Sunday… He wanted to know if they were walking with the Lord…

The answer to that question was absolutely not… Going to church might have made this couple feel better about their sin of fornication… But confessing sins in church on Sunday, knowing that you are walking out the door and will be continuing an ongoing sin…will in no way allow a Christian to be walking with the Lord… For Christians, sins must be confessed and turned from, to again be practically righteous in God’s eyes…1 John 1:9…

Let’s take a look at some Bible scripture to see what God says about going to church… For one thing, God doesn’t want to force us to go to church just because of some man made church doctrine; or to give an offering because we are forced to… Look at this scripture written by the apostle Paul, in…

2 Corinthians 9:7… So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. (NKJV)

This scripture would apply to not only to a monetary gift given to a Sunday morning offering collection; it would also apply to our motive for going to church to begin with… Christians should want to go to church to gather and worship the Lord, as part of a collective body of Christ… The Bible has this to say about gathering in God’s name, in…

Hebrews 10:24-25… And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. (NKJV)

When fellow believers gather together at my church on Sunday, it is a time to get together to praise and worship the Lord through song, and prayer, and through Bible study in Sunday school, and a sermon backed up with scripture from the Bible… And it’s also a time to find out what the needs are for our fellow brother and sisters in Christ… It may be prayer for someone who is out with a sickness… It might be to find out who has a medical problem we all need to pray for… As one body, Christians in a church should all suffer together, and rejoice together… The apostle Paul reveals this, in…

1 Corinthians 12:26-27… And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. (NKJV)

There is much more I can say about why Christians should willingly gather together to worship and praise God every Sunday, if possible… But I have hit the main points, and will save the rest for later… Suffice it to say, that God made us… God wants us to collectively gather and worship Him as a body, glorifying His name… And I believe that anyone who neglects this opportunity to worship together in the name of the Lord…is not only missing out on increasing their spiritual knowledge and wisdom about God and the Bible…they are living a life that is incomplete in their Christian walk with the Lord…

Heavenly Father, I pray that Your Word will stir the hearts of those who have been neglecting to spend time every week in Your house of worship… I pray Lord, that readers will see the benefits of collective worship and praise to glorify Your name…and that this trend of less and less church goers can be reversed… I pray for these changes in our hearts and our priorities, in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…

Blessings in Christ, bruce

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About Godsmanforever

I present posts about God's Word, with a personal focus on how God's grace is received through saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ... Sinners must understand and obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ... See this link for more...
https://godsmanforever.com/2014/10/26/the-truth-about-sin-10262014-by-bruce-reposted-from-7112013/

This is a blog page dedicated to ministering to those wounded in soul, body, mind, or spirit. Many subjects may be touched upon through my many reflections, muses, or ramblings, however, always will the posts and messages have a Spiritual message that the Lord may be glorified.